We reported earlier this week that the CFPB had recently posted a job opening for an administrative law judge (ALJ) and that the government jobs website indicated that the position was closed. We saw this as suggesting that...more

The CFPB recently posted a job opening for an administrative law judge (ALJ). According to the government jobs website, the position is closed which suggests that it has been filled. A recent Politico article indicated that...more

Recently, in Hill v. Securities Exchange Commission, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia preliminarily enjoined the SEC from conducting the administrative proceeding brought against Charles...more

The SEC brought an insider trading case against a senior corporate official and a chain of tippes that starts with his brother-in-law broker who then tipped his friend, another broker. Others, not named as defendants, were...more

The SEC’s shift to administrative proceedings in recent months has spawned a series of suits against the agency challenging its forum selection authority. The suits have generally met with little success. Nevertheless,...more

The SEC continues to bolster its allegations regarding the relationships between tipper and tippee in insider trading cases as well as the knowledge of the tippee. Whether those allegations will be sufficient to meet the...more

This week Senator Elizabeth Warren forwarded a 13 page letter to SEC Chair White regarding her performance in office. The letter highlighted what it calls a “significant gap” between the promises of Ms. White at the time she...more

On May 22, 2015, William F. Galvin, the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, filed a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking court review of the portion of...more

Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has released for public comment a consultation paper on a proposed whistleblower program (Program), under which whistleblowers would be eligible for a financial reward of up to...more

On March 12, FINRA announced an order requiring a New York-based broker-dealer to pay over $1 million in restitution and $500,000 in fines for alleged fraud in sales of a private placement offering. According to the Order,...more

Insider trading cases are built on two basic theories. Under the traditional, classic model, a corporate insider uses material, non-public information obtained from his or her employer to trade in shares of the company –...more

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently ordered two former CFOs of Saba Software, Inc. to reimburse the company for stock-sale profits and bonuses accrued during the 12-month periods following its materially false and...more

A Nevada District Court granted the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request for a $585 million judgment against MRI International, Inc. and its former CEO, Edwin Fujinaga, consisting of disgorgement, prejudgment interest...more

In a brief filed last week, the SEC urged the D.C. Circuit to give Chevron deference to the Commission’s unnecessary conclusion that Congress’s 180-day enforcement deadline doesn’t matter. The conclusion is consistent with...more

It won’t surprise you to learn that the U.S. Code includes this provision: “A court of the United States shall have power to punish by fine or imprisonment, or both, at its discretion, such contempt of its authority . . . as...more

Many have expressed concern regarding the increasing use of administrative proceedings by the SEC. Those concerns range from the fairness of the forum to the impact of its lack of discovery on complex cases to the right to a...more

The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has applied to the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal the August 2014 decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal (Court) in Walton v Alberta (Securities Commission), 2014 ABCA 723...more

On November 12, 2014, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a Department of Labor finding that Halliburton retaliated against a whistleblower by including his name in a document preservation notice. The court also held that emotional...more

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that revealing a whistleblower’s identity is prohibited retaliation under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in Halliburton, Inc. v. Administrative Review Board, United States...more

The SEC is clearly bringing more cases as administrative proceedings. To be sure, many of its “broken windows” actions are brought in that forum. At the same time, it is brining other cases which are traditionally brought as...more

The SEC continued what appears to be a growing trend of bringing insider trading cases as administrative proceedings. Since the beginning of September the Commission has filed at least four insider trading actions as...more

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission provided a summary of its enforcement activities for its fiscal year 2014 (ending in September). The SEC announced that it brought a record 755 enforcement actions and...more

On October 16, in a groundbreaking trading manipulation case, the Securities and Exchange Commission entered an Order instituting a settled administrative proceeding against high-frequency trading firm Athena Capital...more

In a complaint filed recently in the Southern District of New York, an activist investor and his investment advisor company have gone on the offensive against the SEC. Joseph Stillwell and Stillwell Value LLC filed a...more

*With LinkedIn, you don't need to create a separate login to manage your free JD Supra account, and we can make suggestions based on your needs and interests. We will not post anything on LinkedIn in your name. Or, sign up using your email address.